An´drew, one of the twelve apostles. He was a native of the city of Bethsaida in Galilee, and brother of Simon Peter. He was at first a disciple of John the Baptist, and was led to receive Jesus as the Messiah in consequence of John's expressly pointing him out as 'the Lamb of God' (John 1:36). His first care, after he had satisfied himself as to the validity of the claims of Jesus, was to bring to him his brother Simon. Neither of them, however, became at that time stated attendants on our Lord; for we find that they were still pursuing their occupation of fishermen on the sea of Galilee when Jesus, after John's imprisonment, called them to follow him (Mark 1:14; Mark 1:18). Very little is related of Andrew by any of the evangelists: the principal incidents in which his name occurs during the life of Christ are, the feeding of the five thousand (John 6:8); his introducing to our Lord certain Greeks who desired to see him (John 12:22); and his asking, along with his brother Simon and the two sons of Zebedee, for a further explanation of what our Lord had said in reference to the destruction of the temple (Mark 13:3). Of his subsequent history and labors we have no authentic record. Tradition assigns Scythia, Greece, and Thrace as the scenes of his ministry: and he is said to have suffered crucifixion at Patræ in Achaia, on a cross of the form (×), commonly known as 'St. Andrew's cross.'
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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